Scotch Plains Zoning Board of Adjustment to Discuss the Willow Grove Cell Tower Proposal Tonight

Tonight, the Scotch Plains Zoning Board of Adjustment will hold a public meeting that will focus on a proposal by T-Mobile to construct a 120-foot cell phone tower on the property of Willow Grove Swim Club, located on Roosevelt Avenue in Scotch Plains. T-Mobile representatives, local homeowners, members of Willow Grove Swim Club, parents of students enrolled in nearby McGinn Elementary School, and other community members are expected to attend. This is T-Mobile's second attempt to erect a cell tower on the land, and tonight's meeting is expected to be contentious.

Since Dec. 2006, OmniPoint Communications, a subsidiary of T-Mobile, has leased land from Willow Grove Swim Club, according to a member of the club's Board of Directors. The board member spoke on condition of anonymity, for fear of becoming a target of those who oppose the tower's construction. T-Mobile did not return multiple calls for comment.

T-Mobile first sought to build a cell tower on the property in the fall of 2007, according to the board member, but the application was stymied because the intended location was positioned within a designated wetlands area. The proposal faced strong resistance from local residents that time, as well.

"There was quite a lot of opposition [in 2007]," Scotch Plains Board of Adjustment secretary Barbara Horev recalled in a phone interview. "Some people didn't want to have to look at it. Some didn't like how close it was to McGinn. Everybody seemed to have a complaint about something."

T-Mobile's current application reintroduces a similar proposal. According to the Willow Grove board member, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJ DEP) recently "delineated the wetlands area:" It more precisely outlined the exact location of the protected wetland, thereby allowing T-Mobile to construct a tower outside that area.

Attorney Constantine Stamos, who represented T-Mobile in its attempt to construct the tower in 2007, will once again speak for the telecommunications company. Mr. Stamos did not return multiple phone calls to comment on the cell tower's proposed location, the range of coverage it will provide, or his plans for tonight's meeting. T-Mobile also did not return multiple calls for comment.

However, if community opposition against this proposed tower is similar to the opposition raised against a proposed T-Mobile cell tower to be placed within Hillside Cemetery in Scotch Plains – a matter that has been debated since March – tomorrow's meeting will likely be the first of many centered around the issue. The numerous "Stop the Cell Tower" signs scattered around the lawns of homes near Willow Grove Swim Club that direct community members to http://www.fightthetoweronline.com/, as well as an online petition against the tower's construction with nearly three hundred signatures, foreshadow strong resistance.

"I think [the proposed construction] is a horrible idea," said Jason Okoro, 19, of Jefferson Avenue, located two blocks from the swim club. "Willow Grove is so nice, and it would be awful to see a huge tower make it look unattractive."

Fear of possible health concerns also remains an issue. "The proximity [of the proposed tower] to a grammar school where kids are exposed for eight hours per day for six years is my concern," said Scotch Plains resident John Feeney, who has three children enrolled at McGinn Elementary School. "I think the long-term effects of cellular radiation are very dangerous, whether [medical reports] say they are harmless or not."

Fanwood resident Laurie Gallahue, who will have four children enrolled at McGinn in September, offered similar thoughts. "We don't know what harm cellular radiation will cause years from now," she said. "At one point, we didn't know that cigarettes were bad or that drinking alcohol during pregnancy was bad. I have a responsibility as a parent to protect my children, and [they] are not going to be guinea pigs sitting only feet away from a cell tower."

Studies released by multiple health organizations, including the World Health Organization, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and the National Toxicology Program, have not found a conclusive link between radiation from cell phone towers and health problems.

Loss of property value also worries several community members. "It will change the character of our neighborhood," said Mary Ducran, who lives on Maple Hill Road in Scotch Plains. "If this tower is built, it will change the way my neighbors and I have to market our homes."

"Real estate is based on perception," she continued. "Even if government studies haven't uncovered harmful effects from the radiation, people are still wary of the unknown. That alone affects my ability to sell my home."

Not all are against the potential construction, though. "People are always going to complain and call it an eyesore," said Brian McCabe of Lincoln Avenue, located one block from Willow Grove Swim Club. "But the truth is that everyone has a cell phone. Towers need to go somewhere. I say, put [the tower] up." Additionally, McCabe noted that the cell phone service around his home is sometimes spotty and prone to dropping calls.

The Willow Grove board member said that the board will "leave the [proposal for construction] up to the town and T-Mobile." As the swim club has been receiving monthly payments "consistent with the amounts paid by higher towers in the area" since December 2006, the result of the upcoming meetings and future vote will not affect the swim club's revenue earned directly from T-Mobile.

The swim club is not overly concerned with the effect that the tower would have on the club if it is eventually constructed, the board member said. "I think it is a sign of the times. Cell phone towers are becoming more prevalent in the area; we are certainly seeing growth and will continue to experience growth, and [cell towers] will become more and more common."

The cell tower requires a use variance before it can be built, meaning that the municipality must permit an exception to the standard zoning laws in order for the tower to be constructed, five of the seven voters on the Board of Adjustment must affirm the proposal in order for it to be accepted. The outcome of that vote, Horev said, is difficult to predict.

"It's hard to tell," she said. "These two proposed cell towers (at Willow Grove Swim Club and at Hillside Cemetery) are the first to come before the board."

If the proposal does pass, other telecommunications companies could add antennae of their own to the tower pending approval by the Board of Adjustment, according to Horev.

Community members who support or who oppose the cell tower's proposed construction are encouraged to attend tonight's meeting, which takes place in Council Chambers on the first floor of the Scotch Plains Municipal Building, located at 430 Park Avenue. The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m.